Concordia Historical Institute Quarterly - THE LCMS’s GREAT “BRAIN DRAIN”

Christian News, Vol. 50, No. 44; Nov. 12, 2012
The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod experienced a great “brain drain” when Seminex was formed and many liberal professors, pastors, and seminarians left the LCMS says Mike Doyle in a 34 page article on Dr. Paul Manz in the Fall, 2012 Concordia Historical Institute Quarterly. When Manz died on October 28, 2009, the November 9, 2009 Christian News published “Paul Manz, Distinguished Lutheran Organist, Composer and Teacher, Dies,” a long report from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America on the great work of Manz. CN’s editorial on Manz was titled: “Paul Manz – 1919-2009 – Belonged with the LCMS – Not ELCA – One of the World’s Greatest Organists.” Manz championed Bach. However, he left the LCMS and became a leading fund raiser for Seminex. The 1973 convention of the LCMS said in resolution 3-09 that the professors who formed Seminex were guilty of false doctrine which was not to be tolerated in the LCMS.

The November 9, 2009 Christian News said: Dr. Manz should have followed the example of another great musician who champions Bach, Dr. Robert Bergt. Bergt now is the conductor of Bach at the Sem, at the LCMS’s Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. Both the theology and music of Bach does not fit with the theology of ELCA and Seminex. Bergt in his younger years did sign Seminex’s Faithful to Our Calling—Faithful to Our Lord but since then he made it clear that he is with the confessional Lutheran theology promoted by Bach and officially still in the LCMS.

Hopefully, at the funeral of Dr. Paul Manz it was made clear that he like Martin Luther, Johan Sebastian Bach, and all great Lutheran musicians and organists trusted not in all his great achievements, but only in the saving merits of Jesus Christ for his eternal salvation. To God Alone The Glory.

The CHIQ says that “Mr. Doyle has authored numerous articles in the Concordia Historical Institute Quarterly. He is the author of seven books, of which four have received awards from Concordia Historical Institute.” The CHIQ has highly praised such defenders of Seminex as Dr. John Strietelmeyer of Valparaiso University in a cover story. Doyle writes in the CHIQ:

“In July of 1969 Paul (Manz) was invited to be the organist for the 48th Regular convention of the Missouri Synod conducted in Denver, Colorado. He also presented concerts at the Air Force Academy and St. John's Lutheran Church in Denver. Unfortunately, the beauty of these programs was overshadowed by the events at the convention, which would cause turmoil for many in Synod, including Paul. At this convention, Rev. Dr. Jacob Preus was elevated from the presidency of Concordia Seminary in Springfield to the presidency of the LCMS in 1969. He soon embarked on a conservative agenda that had far-reaching conse­quences within the Synod. The advancement toward fellowship with the ALC (American Lutheran Church) was terminated. Members of the LCMS mission staff and faculty members at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis who were regarded as too liberal were removed. He appointed a fact-finding committee to investigate what he saw as liberalism at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. In 1973, as a result of the committee's report, the majority of the faculty was accused of false teaching, in effect, heresy.

“In 1974 the seminary's moderate president, Rev. John H. Tietjen, was removed, with the majority of the faculty boycotting class­es to protest his removal. After Synod ousted Concordia's president, the seminary faculty walked out, along with the majority of the students, causing a ‘brain drain’ among theologians that cost the Synod the ser­vices of some of its most prominent spokesmen, including Dr. Martin Marty and Dr. Jaroslav Pelikan. A rebel seminary was established at Eden Seminary and Saint Louis University, ultimately called Christ Seminary-Seminex; among the first students to graduate from Christ Seminary was John Manz. His decision put his father in a very awk­ward position at Concordia College in St. Paul, making it difficult for Paul to stay at the college. Dr. Marty said: "Church musicians aren't usually rebels, and Paul was not a rebel. But what was happening in the Missouri Synod reached his artistic integrity and his sense of fair­ness."

“In response to actions against the Concordia Seminary faculty, Evangelical Lutherans in Mission (ELIM) was organized within Synod after the New Orleans Convention.

President J. A. O. Preus made ev­ery effort to stop the group, including implementation of disciplinary actions against the clergy, congregations, and the Synod's colleges that actively supported or participated in ELIM. Since Paul became an active member after the convention and played hymn festivals at some of ELIM's events, he became suspect. “At the 1975 LCMS Convention in Anaheim, a resolution was passed that declared ELIM to be schismatic and offensive to the Synod, warning supporters that action would be taken against them if they continued to support this group.” Christian News has long insisted that when Seminex was formed and such liberals as Martin Marty and Jaroslov Pelikan left the LCMS, contrary to what Doyle writes in the Concordia Historical Institute Quarterly, there was no “brain drain” in the LCMS. When the press reported that the entire controversy in the LCMS and at Concordia Seminary was a struggle between power and scholarship. According to the liberals and the press, the liberals and moderates had the scholarship while the conservatives had the power, money and enough convention votes to get their men elected.